Trade hubs are centers of trading in a region of space, usually found in a solar system with many gates that serve as a main pass-through center. Volumes of goods traded in trade hub systems far exceed goods traded in other systems in the region, marked by high availability of goods in one place. The volume of goods increase customers to the system, attracting more sellers, increasing volume, and stabilizing prices. In busy regions such as The Forge, a large fraction of trade takes place at the hub, such as Jita.

The convenience of "one-stop shopping" is such that buyers are usually willing to pay a slight premium just to get the items at the hub rather than elsewhere in the region (this can usually be seen by examining the sell orders of an item). However, in low-population regions where the hubs are not as developed, there may be no premiums charged on goods and often the range must be increased on buy orders in order to reach more sellers.

Trade hubs are created in certain locations for a number of reasons, including location (choke points, proximity to mission hubs or different regions) and available facilities (research facilities, manufacturing lines etc). These factors cause players to use particular stations and systems over others, and once a station is known as a trade hub then players are more likely to use it, cementing its status.

If your corporation is at war (as EVE University often is), be cautious around trade hubs, as your enemies will often be lurking there, hoping to catch you hauling valuables unawares. It's highly recommended to create an out-of-corp hauling alt character to avoid unnecessary losses.

Major Trade Hubs

Jita - The Forge - Caldari Space

Jita is the center of trade in New Eden and is by far the largest hub in game, often having over 1000 players in system with consistent traffic in and out. Trading in Jita is extremely competitive due to the high level of activity. This often results in fairly low profit margins, and is harder for players with low ISK to succeed in due to the richer able to shrug off the low margins by trading in volume. However, players new to trading will be able to turn over smaller orders more quickly, and therefore learn what to do/what not to do sooner. Be mindful of low volumes as well, since if you do find products with decent profit margins (say above 20%), these items flow a lot slower than those with narrower margins.

Hek - Metropolis - Minmatar Space

Hek is a very active and reasonably cheap trade hub. Most items can be bought here and it is also a fairly good place to sell goods. Prices are fairly competitive and may, in some cases, be lower than Jita. Whilst scammers are less prevalent than in Jita, they are still present here, so care should be taken with all dealings.

In order to quickly find those trade hubs in-game, it might be helpful to paste the following cheat sheet into your notepad:

Venal

Claimable Nullsec

There are huge trade hubs in Nullsec, but almost all stations are owned by alliances and are restricted to members of that alliance and their allies.

A notable exception have been the Scalding Pass region, which had several freeports[45] (everyone is allowed to dock; there are no docking fees; and all services may be used). One of the first freeports has been opened by the alliance Phoebe Freeport Republic (PFR) at 4-CM8I VI - 4-C0EL0M8 4 LYFE [46]. But free docking endangers the sovereignty in sov warfare, thats why its uncommon to open a station to the public in claimable nullsec.